Lutheran erased Winnebago's only lead with its first basket and never let the Indians catch up, matching every 'Bago rally with a flurry of their own in Thursday's 75-71 victory.

Lutheran (18-2, 5-0) took over sole possession of the Big Northern Conference West lead by shooting 61 percent for the game (25-for-41). That included better than 50 percent in all four quarters.

"The thing we're known for is being a really good offensive team," senior guard Thomas Kopelman (27 points) said. "We're so unselfish. We always make the extra pass and we make open shots."

Winnebago (14-4, 4-1) also made a lot of shots in this matchup of the last two third-place teams in Class 2A (Lutheran in 2012, Winnebago last year).

But you can't make up ground when Lutheran keeps scoring, too. Not even with Ryan Swigart (22 points), DeLundre Dixon (19) and Isaiah Yanni (17) scoring regularly for Winnebago.

"We had a lack of communication on defense and a couple of miscues and it cost us the game," Dixon said.

Winnebago trailed by between four and nine points until Lutheran finally got ahead by double digits midway through the fourth quarter and led by as much as 68-55. The Indians then rallied, but couldn't get close than four.

Fifteen of those points could be traced to 3-pointers, where Lutheran shot 9-for-19 and Winnebago, which actually made two more field goals, 4-for-19.

"It's tough when we're making 2s and they're making 3s," Dixon said. "We have to get out there and work on covering the 3-pointer before we play them again."

Nate Wieting gave Lutheran 21 inside points, with Kopelman (six 3-pointers) and Joseph Kellen (16 points) providing most of the firepower from outside.

"We share the ball well as a team, find the open man, make the extra pass - and it shows on the scoreboard," Wieting said.

Winnebago will have to practice its 3-point defense hard, because Lutheran expects Ryan Dolan to return soon from a broken foot.

"Everyone on our team can score," Kellen said. "We're not even at full strength yet. We have Dolan; he's 6-7 and can shoot the ball better than anyone on the team."

While Winnebago is already looking forward to the rematch, so is Lutheran, which figures the job is only half done.

"After losing both last year," Kopelman said, "we knew this year was our time where we had to win them both."